I just installed the Adblock Plus extension for Firefox - it's an amazingly smart ad filtering add-on that eliminates all ads (so far). You can train it like a spam filter or use a pre-existing "subscription" (it's just a term - it costs nothing) that has been tailored for your language/region. For example, I chose the Easylist USA subscription and it's working great. Go to Myspace, CNN.com, (the Noiseboard!), whatever - and the ads are just gone.

Now, there's an ethical debate that will develop... Basically, this is like a mega-Tivo (in that ads can be skipped) that is able subvert the very economic engine that the Internet runs on - ad revenue. This could mean that (A) advertisers will have to come up with more creative (and possibly insidious) ways to reach eyeballs, and (B) ad revenue will fall for sites, causing them to limit their "free" services.

Then again, ads are fucking annoying - especially the ones that make noises or run video that eats up bandwidth. As for now, there probably won't be a significant impact from some people using a service like this because hits are still being counted on the site, and those hits will still dictate how much advertisers are charged. Soon, however, advertisers will notice that yes, the site is being hit, but less and less people are clicking on the ads (which are now invisible) and they're not being redirected to the advertiser's site. If enough people used effective ad-blocking software like this, advertisers could see a serious decline in sales.

See? I guess I'm takin' money out of T Max's pocket...

Of course, the whole point of web 2.0 advertising is to wrap your message in content that potential customers find valuable, such that they don't mind the ads. What you're talking about is a web 1.0 ad blocker, and many sites still run web 1.0 business models (like this one).

Folks in advertising already working with new methods (like me) have nothing to fear from blockers like yours. In fact, I appreciate the heads-up -- I'm going to install it now! Thanks!

great, now the board is going to get even slower.

What are the actual, practical applications of this? Product placement within media?

As a low branch, yes. But there are better applications.

Let's say, for example, instead of Quirk Ford/Toyota/All Cars taking out tons of banner and skyscraper ads on web sites, Quirk sponsors specific sections. For example, the Quirk Repair Shop in the Boston Globe. Once a week or maybe a couple of times a week is an article on something car owners (or potential car buyers) would find valuable. Such as a discussion on synthetic vs. real motor oil. The paper and online site are skinned in the Quirk brand imagery, and the article is legit (not an article talking about how Quirk Ford is best, for example).

Another example could be UnderArmor developing and releasing skinned armors for Halo 3. If you want the UnderArmor Halo 3 armor (say it's called the UA Reactive Bodysuit or something), you have to visit their site, or go through a special branded area in order to download the plugin/addon, or get a personalized key made (for tracking and to keep people from sharing keys) to enter into the game to unlock it.

The point is, give people things they want, and in return they won't mind that your brand or message is there. It's *tons* better than interstitial ads, popups, and huge page ads where the brand screaming at you (HEAD ON APPLY DIRECTLY TO THE FOREHEAD) actually detracts from the viewing/reading experience.

ha ha, now you will never get a bigger penis, quick college degree in 3 days, or that lottery money either!!!

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I just occasionally update my network info for "bad actors" so that entire bad domains get redirected to local.